When Yuliya Kusher, founder, CEO, and chief designer of Solo for Diamonds, introduced the brand in 2018, the Ukrainian lab-grown diamond executive chose a name that reflected her vision for its aesthetic.
“I called it Solo because the most important part is the stone,” Kusher tells JCK on a recent video call from her office in New York City, where she relocated from Kyiv after the start of the war in February 2022. “You don’t need a lot of small stones because they distract from the main asset, which is the diamond. So all of our jewelry pieces contain mostly just one stone, but in different shapes. We started this within the Ukrainian market, and it worked out for us.”
For the U.S. market, however, Kusher knew she needed to create pieces that were “outstanding and different,” she says.
That’s when she had the idea to set her lab-grown diamonds in bio-resin, a sustainable lightweight material made from plant oils that can be molded into any shape.
“We are all used to seeing diamonds in gold or platinum,” Kusher says. “But lab-grown diamonds give the possibility for so many other options.”
Using HPHT (high-pressure, high-temperature) technology to make “as grown” colored diamonds in a range of hues—including pink, blue, yellow, green, and colorless—Kusher set about pairing them with transparent bio-resin in complementary, or contrasting, hues. She introduced the collection last year.
“The most outstanding piece, which everyone likes a lot, is the green bio-resin with the yellow diamond,” she says.
True to Kusher’s minimalist aesthetic, the rings have a seductive, space-age appeal. “They look very cool, almost like a floating diamond on your hand, especially when it’s a white diamond with a transparent setting.”
One reason Kusher is so committed to setting her lab-grown diamonds in materials like bio-resin is that the pieces offer a bold diamond look, but take the pressure off those wearing them. “Sometimes you want to wear diamonds with jeans, or sport costumes, or swimsuits,” she says. “It’s still a jewelry piece which will make you feel like you have something beautiful on.”
The collection, which retails from $3,000 to $80,000, is heavy on rings, but recently Solo introduced bio-resin earrings with colorless and blue diamonds. “Now we are working on the bracelet,” Kusher says. “And we are adding more and more pieces.”
Kusher is even considering creating an engagement ring. “The transparent ring with the white stone is the hit for brides that don’t want to be so classic,” she says. “It looks like a really huge floating diamond on your hand.
“The problem with the jewelry segment is that everyone is trying to make something different, but it’s usually just the same: It’s gold with different shapes. We have to think out of the box and try to use something you were not expecting to use within jewelry.”
Top: Bio-resin ring with 14k gold and 4.25 ct. fancy orangey pink lab-grown diamond, price on request
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